Automobile door hinge with two-position toggle type hold-open



Feb. 27, 1968 TOGGLE TYPE HOLD-OPEN Filed Feb. 25, 1966 j w wrwxsz may 45 7/// OPEN United States Patent 3,370,318 AUTOMOBILE DOOR HINGE WITH TWO-POSITIDN TOGGLE TYPE HOLD-OPEN Joseph H. Marchione, Rockford, Iil., assignor to Atwood Vacuum Machine Company, Rockford, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Feb. 23, 1966, Ser. No. 529,447 10 Claims. (Cl. 16-145) This invention relates to hinges for the doors of automobiles and trucks and is more particularly concerned with a hinge having a two-position combination cam and toggle type hold-open means whereby to hold the door open at a mid-open position and prevent accidental closing of the door when fully opened.

Various designs of hold-open means have been proposed but many of these are too complicated and expensive in construction and impractical for various reasons. It is therefore the principal object of my invention to provide a two-position combination cam and toggle type hold-open means of simpler and less expensive construction, designed to give satisfactory performance throughout the life of the car without ever requiring any attention.

In accordance with my invention, an elongated cam lever, which may be stamped from sheet metal at low cost, is pivotally mounted at one end on the door half of .the hinge and functions as -a toggle link to, being pivotally connected intermediate its ends with the outer end of a companion toggle link, the other end of which is slotted for sliding pivotal connection with the body half of the hinge on the same pin with a follower roller that is arranged to ride on a properly profiled cam surface of hump form provided on the aforesaid cam lever intermediate its ends, the cam surface providing a recess for detent purposes in the apex portion of the hump into which the follower roller rides to hold the door open in mid-open position, the roller being also arranged to engage in another recess defined between the outer end of the cam lever and the hump to prevent accidental closing of the door when fully opened. A coiled compression spring, caged in compressed condition between the outer end of the cam lever and the door half of the hinge, provides yielding resistance to movement of the door either way lfrom the mid-open position and in a closing direction in fully opened position. A stop projection provided on the door half of the hinge is arranged to engage a project ion on'the body half in the fully opened position of the door to limit door opening movement positively. The roller is optional for ease of operation and reduced wear, inasmuch as a large headed pin with a shouldered portion to define'the pivot for the slotted end of the toggle link would serve the same purpose otherwise. The slot in the toggle link allows for the needed lost-motion by endwise movement of the link with respect to its pivot to permit entry of the roller (or pin) in the detent recess in the cam, the coiled compression spring furnishing the holding power in the mid-open position of the door when the spring must be compressed in order to force the roller out of the recess.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a hinge embodying the improved hold-open means of my invention showing the parts in full lines in what corresponds to the closed position of the door, the door half of the hinge being shown in dotted lines in the fully opened position of the door "ice to illustrate the stop positively limiting door movement at the point beyond a small amount of over-travel permissible in the fully opened position of the door, as indicated by the geometrical diagram;

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a detail of FIG. 1 taken at right angles to FIG. 2, to better illustrate the relationship of the follower roller to the toggle link and cam lever, the roller and toggle link being both carried on the same pin on th body half of the hinge.

,.The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts in these three views.

Referring to the drawing, wherein in FIG. 1 the body is indicated in dotted lines at B, and the door at D, the hinge shown is of the butt type and comprises a generally L-shaped body half or member 5 and a door half or member 6, the former having a pair of knuckles 7 and 8 between which the knuckle 9 on the door half 6 is engaged for pivotal connection by means of a pintle 10 in the usual way, except that knuckle 9 has an extension 11 for stop purposes arranged to engage a transverse projection 12 provided on the arm 13 of the L-shaped body half 5 to limit door opening movement positively. The other arm 14 of the body half 5 is the attaching end portion and has screw holes 15 provided therein for mounting the hinge on the door pillar on the body.

The hold-open means of my invention involves only seven parts, all relatively simple and economical to manufacture, namely, a coiled compression spring 16, a cam lever 17, which functions incidentally also as a toggle link, pivot pin 18 for pivotally connecting one end of the lever 17 with the body half 6 of the hinge, pivot pin 19 for pivotally connecting the outer end of the companion toggle link 29 with the cam lever 17 intermediate the ends thereof, pivot pin 21 for pivotally and slidably connecting the slotted other end 22 of the toggle link 'with the body half 5 of the hinge, and the follower roller 23 mounted on the pivot pin 21 and arranged to ride on the cam surface 24 of the cam lever 17. The coiled compres sion spring 16 is caged in compressed condition between the outer end 25 of the cam lever 17 and a seat 26 on the door half 6 of the hinge in laterally spaced relation to the knuckle 9, a center projection 27 being provided on the outer end 25 of the cam lever 17 to retain that end of the spring against possibility of displacement, and a center projection 28 being provided on the seat 26 for similar cooperation with the other end of the spring. The door half 6 of the hinge, which, as seen in FIG. 2, has screw holes 29 provided therein for mounting of the hinge on the door, has a boss 30 provided thereon in longitudinally spaced relation to the seat 26 for mounting the pivoted end of the cam lever 17 thereon by means of pivot pin 18, and, as seen in FIG. 2, the body half 5 of the hinge has a projection 31, the flat face 32 on which lies parallel to but below the plane of the cam lever 17, being spaced just enough for accommodation of the toggle link 20, thereby supporting the slotted end 22 of the toggle link for sliding and pivotal movement with respect to the body half 5 of the hinge, while disposing the follower roller 23 nicely in the plane of operation of the cam lever 17 for rolling contact on the cam surface 24 provided on the periphery of the hump portion 34 of the cam lever 17. At the apex of the hump 34 there is a recess 35 for detent purposes, the roller 23 being adapted to ride into this recess when the door reaches the mid'open position of the door, indicated by line ab, approximately 40 open in relation to the approximately fully open position of line cd, at

which point the door half 6 of the hinge is not free to move any farther by reason of engagement of its stop projection 11 with the stop projection 12, as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 1. A second detent recess is provided at 36 defined between the flat outer end 37 of the cam lever 17 and the hump 34, the roller 23 being disposed in this recess in engagement with the surface 37 when the door reaches its fully opened position, a small amount of over-travel being permissible, as indicated at 38 in the geometrical diagram, before the stop projection 11 engages stop projection 12 for positively limiting further door opening movement.

In operation, it should be clear from a study of FIG. 1 that the roller 23 remains out of engagement with the hump 34 in the first portion of the door opening movement until it encounters the portion 39 at the apex of the hump at one side of the recess 35, as seen by the arc 2 which is struck from the pivot 19 as a center and tangent to the roller 23. The slot 22 in the toggle link allows for the small amount of relative pivotal movement between the cam lever 17 and the toggle link 20 required for the slight further amount of compression of spring 16 needed to allow the roller 23 to enter the recess 35 to hold the door releasably in its mid-open position. it requires a similar amount of compression of the spring 16 to return the door from mid-open position to closed posi-,

tion, or swing it beyond the mid-open position toward fully open position. In fully opened position, the roller 23 is in the recess 36 defined between the hump 24 and the fiat surface 37 on the outer end of the cam lever 17. At this point a small amount of over-travel is permissible, as indicated at 38, before the stop projection 11 on the door half 6 of the hinge strikes the stop projection 12 on the body half 5. The present hinge assembly, therefore, provides an intetrmediate hold-open position with cam action, whereas prior toggle type hold-open means provided only a single fully opened position of the door. The present construction is, therefore, properly described as a combination cam type and toggle type hold-open, functioning strictly as a toggle type in the fully opened position and as a cam type in the intermediate or mid-open position, in which the slot 22 in the link 20 allows for the small amount of relative movement required for the roller 23 to ride'into and out of the recess as required for releasably holding the door in the mid-open position under pressure of the spring 16.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In combination with a door'hinge including .a body hinge member and a door hinge member pivotally connected together, a hinge hold-open comprising an elongated cam lever pivotally mounted at one end on one of said members for swinging movement in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of relative movement of said members, said'lever including a cam shaped portion on one side thereof intermediate its ends with a hold-open detent recess provided therein, a cam follower on the other of said members engageable with said cam in positions of said hinge members between the open and closed positions of the door, an elongated toggle link pivotally connected at one end with said cam lever intermediate the ends thereof and pivotally connected at its other end on the same member carrying the cam follower, said link having an elongated slot longitudinally of said link at one of said pivots to allow a predetermined amount of lost motion, and compression spring means extending between the other end of said cam lever and the first mentioned hinge member on which the elongated cam lever is pivoted, saidfollower being engageable in said hold-open detent recess to hold the door open in a predetermined position between open and closed positions of the door, and being engageable with said cam also nearthe outer. end of said cam lever to hold the door open in fully opened position.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 including a stop projection on one of said hinge members arranged to engage the other hinge member in the fully opened position of the door positively to limit door opening movement.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1 including a stop projection on one of said hinge members arranged to engage the other hinge member in the fully opened position of the door positively to limit door opening movement, the follower in its second hold-open position being arranged to have a predetermined amount of overtravel relative to said cam lever before the stop projection positively limits further door opening movement. I

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hinge is of the butt-type and one of the hinge members has a knuckle pivoted between a pair of knuckles provided on the other hingemember, the knuckle on the first mentioned hinge member having a stop projection which in the fully opened position of the door engages the other hinge member whereby positively to limit further door opening movement.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hinge is of the butt-type, the toggle link having its slotted end slidably and pivotally engageable on a flat edge surface on one of said hinge butts on a pivot pin on which the cam follower is provided, the cam lever being pivotally connected with the outer end of the toggle link in toggle relationship thereto and vbeing pivotally connected at one end on an edge portion on the other of said hinge butts.

6. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hinge is of the butt-type, the toggle link having its slotted end slidably and pivotally engageable on a-fiat edge surface on one of said hinge butts on a pivot pin on which the cam follower is provided, the cam lever being pivotally connected with the outer end of the toggle link in toggle relationship thereto and being pivotally connected at one end on an edge portion on the other of said hinge butts, the one hinge member being generally L-shaped with the one leg of the L providing an attaching portion and the other leg having a pair of knuckles provided on the outer end thereof, between which a knuckle on the other of said hinge butts is pivotally mounted, the toggle link having its slotted end pivotally mounted on a pivot pin on the last mentioned leg of the L-shaped member,

the cam lever being pivotally mounted on the edge portion of the other of said hinge butts.

7. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hinge is of the butt-type, the toggle link having its slotted end slidably and pivotally engageable on a flat edge surface on one of said hinge butts on a pivot pin on which the cam follower is provided,the cam lever being pivotally connected with the outer end of the toggle link'in toggle relationship thereto and being pivotally connectedat one end on an edge portion on the other of said hinge butts,

the one hinge member being generally L-shaped with the one leg of the L providing an attaching portion and the other leg having a pair of knuckles provided on the outer end thereof, between which a-knuckle on the otherof said hinge butts is pivotally mounted,'the toggle linkhaving its slotted end pivotally mounted on'a'pivot pin on the last mentioned leg of the L-shaped member, the cam lever being pivotally mounted on the edge portion of the other of said hinge butts, the knuckle on the last mentioned hinge butt having a stop projection which in the fully opened position of the door engages the adjacent leg of the L-shaped hinge butt for positively limiting door opening movement.

8. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the pivot for the toggle link on the hinge member carrying the cam follower is coaxial with the cam follower.

9. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the pivot for the toggle link on the hinge member carry- 5 6 ing the cam follower is coaxial with the cam follower, References Cited lhiS pivot being 011 i116 SlOttd end Of said link. UNITED STATES PATENTS 10. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the pivot for the toggle link on the hinge member carry- 2,707,302 5/1955 Johnson 16147 ing the cam follower is coaxial with the cam follower, 5 3131423 5/1964 Peras 16*145 the cam follower being a roller mounted on a pivot pin, and the slotted end of said link being attached to said BOBBY GAYPrlmary Exammer pin under said roller. D. L. TROUTMAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A DOOR HINGE INCLUDING A BODY HINGE MEMBER AND A DOOR HINGE MEMBER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TOGETHER, A HINGE HOLD-OPEN COMPRISING AN ELONGATED CAM LEVER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED AT ONE END ON ONE OF SAID MEMBERS FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT IN A PLANE SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE PLANE OF RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF SAID MEMBERS, SAID LEVER INCLUDING A CAM SHAPED PORTION ON ONE SIDE THEREOF INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS WITH A HOLD-OPEN DETENT RECESS PROVIDED THEREIN, A CAM FOLLOWER ON THE OTHER OF SAID CHAMBERS ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID CAM IN POSITIONS OF SAID HINGE MEMBERS BETWEEN THE OPEN AND CLOSED POSITIONS OF THE DOOR, AN ELONGATED TOGGLE LINK PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT ONE END WITH SAID CAM LEVER INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT ITS OTHER END ON THE SAME MEMBER CARRYING THE CAM FOLLOWER, SAID LINK HAVING AN ELONGATED SLOT LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID LINK AT ONE OF SAID PIVOTS TO ALLOW A PREDETERMINED AMOUNT OF LOST MOTION, AND COMPRESSION SPRING MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN THE OTHER END OF SAID CAM LEVER AND THE FIRST MENTIONED HINGE MEMBER ON WHICH THE ELONGATED CAM LEVER IS PIVOTED, SAID FOLLOWER BEING ENGAGEABLE IN SAID HOLD-OPEN DETENT RECESS TO HOLD THE DOOR OPEN IN A PREDETERMINED POSITION BETWEEN OPEN AND CLOSED POSITIONS OF THE DOOR, AND BEING ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID CAM ALSO NEAR THE OUTER END OF SAID CAM LEVER TO HOLD THE DOOR OPEN IN FULLY OPENED POSITION. 